1967 Mercury Cougar

In 1967 Ford's counterpart, Mercury, appointed a new vehicle to
continue the success of the Ford Mustang. However, unlike the Mustang
which was targeted to the youth market, the Cougar was oriented
to the executive class. This meant for a sophisticated and luxurious
American muscle car that could keep up with the quickest and still
remain stylish enough to take to the local theatre.

Fact: The Cougar was the Motor Trend's Car of
the Year in 1967.

The 1967 Mercury Cougar shared many structural similarities to
the Mustang including suspension and drive train. However, on the
outside and interior the cars were vastly different.

On the exterior the Cougar was a full 3 inches longer than the
Mustang and featured an elongated sheet metal with very smooth straight
body lines. The headlights were hideaway sets that were set inside
a vertical grill (aka electric shaver grill). Similarly, the rear
taillights were done in a vertical treatment which was thought to
have been borrowed from the Thunderbird. In essence, the Cougar
was attempting to appear more European to prospective American buyers.

The interior of the Cougar included richly styled bucket seats,
detailed console, deeply inset gauges, and a variety of gauges and
switches.